


Thunder and Lightning

by ShadeReilly34



Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Family Bonding, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Post-Episode: s03e12 Let's Get Dangerous!, Thunderstorms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:48:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29502945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadeReilly34/pseuds/ShadeReilly34
Summary: Three months already without her Grandpa. She used to feel alone and lost... But not anymore. A hurt/comfort scene between Drake and Gosalyn set post-Let's Get Dangerous.
Relationships: Drake Mallard & Gosalyn Mallard, Drake Mallard/Launchpad McQuack
Comments: 13
Kudos: 42





	Thunder and Lightning

**Author's Note:**

> Based in this fanart: https://kaliyakarnage.tumblr.com/post/634342655636193280/one-of-those-days-when-you-just-need-someone-to#notes. Credits to kaliyakarnage.

It was the second day in which the rain hit the window without respite or rest from very early in the morning, so if there was ever a glimmer of the sun, it was some haggard ray that couldn't filter through the gray and black clouds. Lightning and thunder alternated; At least every ten minutes, lightning flashed outside and would be followed by the rumbling of a thunder less than two seconds later. Gosalyn Waddlemeyer was huddled on the windowsill, her beak pressed against the window pane, watching the lines of St. Canard blurring in front of her by the rain. The lights in the tower had been turned off for quite some time, sending them into darkness only interrupted by the aforementioned lightning, and now there was nothing to do but watch the storm. She closed her eyes, scratching out one more day in her mind.

_Three months. Three months already._

_Three months already without her Grandpa._

_Every_ time she came to that realization, it was as if an invisible hand twisted her guts and prevented her from speaking, feeling her throat clench hideously. Maybe it _didn't_ hurt as much as that horrible first night, because _unlike_ that time, not only she was trying ( _Really_ _trying_ , albeit with very weak clues) to do something about it, but because also, unlike that time, now she _wasn't_ really alone.

...Although the bad thing about that is that, precisely because she wasn’t alone, she could no longer shrink like a ball in some corner of her old house, hugging herself, to cope with anxiety and despair, where she had no reason to hide her tears because before those who saw them were only the pictures of the two of them on the walls (always smiling while she was sobbing); thus, no one would laugh at her. _Not_ anymore: _Someone_ saw her isolation, her silence, her sulking, her _tears_.

Drake was _more_ observant and perceptive than she had attributed to him, although well, he _was_ a superhero anyway. When the tower's satellite communication was cut off while he was having a conversation with Launchpad because of a lightning bolt that had struck the tower, he hadn't even bothered to activate the auxiliary power plant (no matter how much W.A.N.D.A. would complain about this later), but he had quietly approached to her, in that corner where she was hidden. Gosalyn had believed that she could make him think that she was only asleep, but then she felt his hand on her shoulder and his blue eyes meeting her green ones, a faint smile, but his expression so sad and dull like the weather that ravaged outside. She wanted to say something, some scathing or funny comment, or just asking him to leave her alone... but she _couldn't_ , the pressure from her throat was _too much_. A single sound and the enormous effort she was making to not let out the flood that threatened to appear from her eyes would go to hell.

But Drake _understood_ it. He understood as he sat next to her, moving so that he was on his back on the windowsill, with Gosalyn on his lap. At _another_ time, perhaps during the first days of coexistence, she would have been alarmed, she would have told him that they weren't family (They _were_ _only_ partners in the fight against crime, they _were_ _only_ friends and allies who now lived together because of the circumstances... They _were only_...) and she would have pushed him away before he got too close to her, but Gosalyn found herself settling better, leaning against his chest, letting him wrap her in his arms; While that made the sensation in her throat even stronger, it made her feel better at the same time. Thunder rumbled again and Drake's arms tightened around her. Gosalyn looked at him, noting what she could see of his face, the little part that was not bathed in gray shadow. He smiled at her.

“Launchpad will be here in a few hours, he said he would bring you some donuts and a smoothie. Explosive raspberry, I think."

"Sounds good, I was already wondering when you were going to detach yourself from the computer to cook something and not let me starve." Gosalyn murmured, making him laugh slightly. She felt his hand caressed her hair for a moment... A gesture so similar to the one her Grandpa had made the night she had been left alone for the first time.

_“Everything will be fine, mijita. Everything will be fine. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."_

That night her parents had left, leaving her alone with her Grandpa. And then one night her Grandpa was gone too, this time been _really_ alone. She had no idea what would happen to her from now on. She was _alone_ , _lost_.

...But tonight she _wasn't_ alone.

It was like Drake had heard her thoughts and held her tighter, and she rested her head in the hollow of his throat. His beak rested on her head. Gosalyn began to hum her song, and she was surprised to hear Drake humming the _same_ melody in turn, like a lonely little duet among that dull thud of the storm crashing down over their heads. It was as if in that small gesture, Drake also said those same words:

_"Everything will be fine, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, Gosalyn."_

She smiled, feeling the first tears roll down her cheeks, rubbing her face against the fabric of his flannel shirt.

She was no _longer_ alone, nor lost, much less helpless. She had shelter, food, something to do while she kept looking for Grandpa in one of those infinite corridors of the multiverse... She had friends, not just Dewey, getting to know his brothers and the famous Webby. She had Launchpad, who had allowed her to fly on his plane, letting her hold the wheel for a few moments. She _had_ Drake, she had him as a guardian, as a friend, _as a_...

It was nice to sit with the rain hitting the windows and the lightning lighting them up from time to time, it was nice to be there, waiting for Launchpad and the donuts, waiting for the night and the patrol, waiting for the day of the Grandpa's return... She didn't mind waiting, _as long as_ she was with Drake.

They sat there until sunset, together, as thunder and lightning fell around them. Those lone souls cuddled together and watch how the rain is blurring everything outside, their roles of tutor and protégé that they have designated to themselves are started to blur as well…


End file.
